


On a Beach in Cuba... With You

by a1_kitkat



Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies), X-Men: Apocalypse, X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) - Fandom, X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Ending, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anti-Moira, Apocalypse spoilers, BAMF Jean Grey, Charles-centric, Cherik - Freeform, Entire Scenes of Dialogue Stolen Direct From the Movie, Erik still loves Charles, Fix-It, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Kissing, M/M, Mind Rape, Not Beta Read, Poor Charles, Rape/Non-con Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-22
Updated: 2016-05-22
Packaged: 2018-06-10 00:28:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6930613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a1_kitkat/pseuds/a1_kitkat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An alternate take / fix-it for the ending of 'X-Men:Apocalypse' because i'm a Cherik fangirl :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	On a Beach in Cuba... With You

**Author's Note:**

> So X-men:Apocalypse has been out for 4 days & I've seen it twice (ready to go again) but I simply had to get this fic outta me and written down because I'm messed up in the head!
> 
> Large chunks of dialogue are taken directly from the movie so can be considered major major spoilers for the epic finale of the movie but with my own special take on it for I felt that while the Cherik scenes were very much to die for, there just simply wasn't enough of them!
> 
>  
> 
> Side note: I can't ever recall any characters calling him by his actual name or 'Apocalypse' but for the sake of this fic, they do call him by both

“Charles!” The loud, booming voice echoed across the broken, damaged buildings. “Show yourself!”

 

The telepath lie against the wall, his heart racing, head pounding from the lingering effects of the failed transfer. He closed his eyes, willing the pain to subside.

 

A cry of pain from outside catches his attention and a name slips from Charles’ lips.

 

“Peter”

 

He knows he must do something, must find a way to protect Peter and Raven not to mention his friends and students who had risked everything to save him… But how? En Sabah Nur was strong, perhaps too strong for him to beat… Another name escapes him.

 

“Raven!”

 

Charles can not quite believe she’s down there, right in the line of fire, facing danger and possible death in her own bid to protect him. He can feel her slipping away, hears Hank state his intention to join to fight. Scott is quick to agree and Charles knows he has to stop them.

 

“No” he tells them as he sits up straighter. “It’s me he wants”

“Charles” Moira argues. “You can’t give yourself up. If he has you, he has us all, the whole world”

She’s right, of course but he knows it’s what he has to do. He can’t let his friends die.

 

Charles can hear him calling him out, challenging him, urging him to take him on and save his friends. He closes his eyes, shaking his head in defeat as he senses Raven’s life slipping further and further away. With no other choice, he tries to get up, to push himself until he suddenly stops. The realization finally hitting him.

 

“He was right” Charles states. “There is still some part of me connected to him. I can get inside his head”

 

“Will you do nothing?” the voice calls again.

 

Charles lies back down, more determined than ever to do the right thing.

“Thank you for letting me in” he utters as he slips inside the other man’s head.

 

It takes a few moments for him to realize that Charles is there. Then he blinks and they’re both at a stand-off, staring each other down.

 

“You want what I have?” Charles asks as he marches towards him. “Want to feel what I feel?”

He places his hands upon him and lowers his own walls, completely embracing his abilities and releasing them all upon the mutant. The effect is almost instant and Charles feels a rush of his own power.

 

“Welcome to my world” he says. “You’re in my house now”

Their surroundings change to a world Charles is familiar with, a place where he feels safe and in control of himself and his abilities. He quickly gains the upper hand, with several harsh and precise punches. He knows he can do this, that he can beat him then as he delivers another punch, En Sabah Nur, Apocalypse catches Charles’ fist in his hand. For a brief second, they’re frozen in time as they stare into each other’s eyes.

 

“You’re going to need a bigger house”

 

Charles feels the pain as his hand is crushed and his entire head feels like its’ being ripped apart. Right before his eyes his opponent begins to grow in both size and power. A gasp of pain passes Charles’ lips as his hand loses all feeling. It’s a pain unlike any he’s felt before and he can sense the mutant searching for him and his friends, not just in his mind but physically too.

The vision before him increases in size until Apocalypse is twice, three times the physical size of Charles. He feels himself being picked up, his body thrown across the room until he collapses from both physical and emotional pain.

 

The battle between him and the large, powerful mutant that was taking place inside their heads was sending waves of physical pain throughout his entire body as he felt himself being thrown about like a lifeless rag doll.

 

He knows the mutant is coming for him, wants to claim his physical body but Charles fears he won’t be strong enough to win this fight. His body is thrown onto the ground, his face pressed against the cold tiles of the floor and he looks up, can see the closed door of cerebro and knows that if he can mentally get inside then he will be able to do this.

 

Then something in the air shifts, he can feel the other mutant shrinking again, back to normal size but Charles himself is too physically and mentally drained to stop him. He can hear Apocalypse talking to him, taunting him but isn’t sure if it’s just in his own mind or if Raven, Moira and the others can hear it too.

He’s certain he’s the only one who feel’s the mutant’s hand on his lower back. It sends a shiver down his spine.

 

“Charles” Apocalypse’s voice echoes all around him. “You can not defeat me”

“I can” Charles insists. His voice is shaking as he feels his trousers slipping away. He struggles to sit up, to move, to do something, anything but a strong hand presses into the back of his neck. Apocalypse towers over him, leaning down and whispering in his ear.

 

“Every time I look into Erik’s mind, beneath the pain and suffering, I see you” he whispers in Charles’ ear. “How he claimed you, possessed you all those years ago… But you’re not his anymore, Charles. Now you belong to me”

 

A tongue slides down his cheek and causes him to shudder. A fist closes around his neck, turning his head and forcing him to look at the leering mutant. A forceful kiss bruises his lips and he knows what is about to happen next but there is not an inch of his body that doesn’t already ache with pain. He wants to fight, tries so very hard to push back, to keep the mutant at bay but he can not. When he feels the ultimate pain shooting through his body as Apocalypse enters him, he opens his mouth and screams with a pain he’s never felt before.

 

*

 

Erik watches from above as En Sabah Nur locates where Charles is hiding. Even from this distance, with his helmet blocking and protecting him, he knows what Charles is doing. He knows his old friend is fighting with every fibre of his being to protect the world and every man, woman and mutant in it.

 

Then his entire world is shaken to its’ core when he hears a scream, a scream that is so familiar to himself yet unlike any other. It’s a pain he himself has cried many times, losing his mother, losing his wife and child… But one he never, ever wanted to hear from someone he loved… Loves… Never in his life had he ever wanted to hear such pain pass from Charles’ lips.

 

In that instant, his mind filled with images of his life… The life he did have and the one he could have had. He remembered nights and days spent with Charles. He they’d laughed, lived, loved each other so clearly, so devotedly, how he longed to hold him in his arms one last time and never let him go.

 

His mind and body fill with an anger, a hatred so strong that he turns from his task and sends metal debris towards Apocalypse… To build a metal barrier between the ancient mutant and Charles.

 

“You betray me” Apocalypse turned to Erik.

“No” he insisted. “I betrayed them… and him”  

 

It was all the encouragement his fellow mutants needed and within seconds they each had turned their powers towards Apocalypse in a desperate attempt to finally stop and destroy him.

 

*

 

Jean watched as the battled raged around her. Moira stood watching over Charles who, despite no longer screaming, was still showing signs of pain and trauma. She looked around, unsure of what she was meant to do. Then she heard it, Charles was asking for her help.

 

“They can’t stop him” she said, peering down as the fight continued below them.

‘Jean?’ Charles was in Jean’s mind, asking almost begging for her help.

 

‘It’s over Charles, you’re finished’ she could hear the taunt as Charles let him into her mind. ‘You’re mine now’

It was worse than she had imagined, what the mutant was actually doing to the Professor. She was scared, a new level of fear, one that she hadn’t known existed before. Her only hope right now was the Apocalypse didn’t know she was there, didn’t know that Charles was showing her a glimpse of this.

 

“You will never win” she heard Charles say.

“And why is that?” he asked Charles.

“Because you are alone and I am not”

 

She knew that if she was going to help the Professor, now was her moment. She lowered her guard and slipped into the minds of both mutants. Charles instantly knew she was there and spoke to her, urging her to let go and realize the full extent of her power. Pushing her fear aside, knowing she had to do it, to save them all, she completely let loose.

It felt like an eternity yet also barely a second at the same time. She completely let go of her fear, let her powers free to take control. It was a feeling unlike any other that filled and shook her to the core but at the same time, it just felt right.

 

Before she knew it, it was all over. She turned around at the sound of Moira’s attempts to revive the Professor. Jean watched as both Moira and Hank tried to wake Charles.

 

“He’s gone” Moira declared.

But he wasn’t. Jean could still feel him, trapped inside his own mind… Unable to find a way out.

“No he’s not” Jean told them. “I can still feel him”

 

Jean crossed the room and sank to her knees. She reached out with her hand, touched his face and tried to reach him. She slipped into his mind and found him. The Professor was in the same spot she’d seen him before while at the mercy of Apocalypse’s power.

 

“Professor?” Jean whispered. “Professor? It’s over, he’s gone”

“No…. No….” Charles replied. “I can still feel him… Inside me… Inside my head, inside my…”

“He’s gone, he can’t hurt you or me or anyone ever again”

“No… No… Please, Jean… No!”

 

Unsure of what else to do, Jean turned and looked at Moira, at Hank, at every person in the room. Each one of them was staring at Charles’ unmoving body. Tears filled her eyes as she stared helplessly at so many people who cared greatly for the Professor. She needed to help him, needed someone to help her to help him.

 

A noise from behind makes her turn around and she watches as he removes his helmet.

“What’s wrong with him?” he asks her.

“He… During the fight he… He tried to break the Professor, to control him, to own him”

“Did he succeed?”

“What?”

“Did you see what he did to him?”

 

Jean could feel the emotion being projected from Erik and simply nodded her head. She hoped he wouldn’t ask what exactly had been done to him. She didn’t want to have to reveal such a trauma to everyone standing before her.

 

“Let me help him” Erik said to her.

“How?” she asked.

“Take me into his mind”

“But I… I’ve never done anything like that before”

“Do it… Charles trusts you so I know you can do this for him”

 

She took a deep breath then slowly nodded her head. Jean then crossed the room with Erik by her side. She sank to her knees and placed a hand upon Charles’ cheek then she placed her other hand on Erik’s. Her entire body was trembling as she attempted to pull Erik’s mind into Charles’.

 

The world around her turned dark yet she could feel Erik by her side and a moment later she was standing on a beach with Erik. Charles is lying a few feet away in the sand. He looks younger but just as shaken as he’d been during his struggle with Apocalypse.

Jean opens her mouth to speak but Erik stops her. She turns and looks at him but he’s too busy watching Charles.

 

“Of all the places your mind could take you, Charles” Erik said to him. “We find ourselves here again”

“Erik?” Charles turned and looked around in surprise. “How did you…?”

 

He nodded towards Jean.

“She’s strong, Charles, possibly even more powerful than you” Erik replied.

“I spent a lot of my life fearing my power then hating my power and turning my back on my power…” he averted his gaze and stared down at his hands.

“Yet you can’t seem to live without it… You can help so many more mutants with your powers than without them”

“I couldn’t stop him though… If not for Jean…”

“Together you were able to stop him. I told you, on this very beach, that we’re stronger together… That I wanted you by my side”

“That was a long time ago, old friend" Charles looked up as Erik took a few steps closer. "A lifetime ago, for both of us”

“And here we are again, after all these years”

“He got into your head, Erik, convinced you that you had nothing left”

“It’s what I believed at the time”

“He got into mine… He beat me and he…”

 

Erik took several more steps towards Charles until they were barely an arm’s length apart then he sank to his knees in the sand beside his friend.

“He manipulated a lot of us, Charles” Erik tried to explain. “But he’s gone now”

“He accessed your memories of us” Charles continued. “He knew that for a long time, I belonged to you… with you and he” tears filled his eyes “he said I needed to belong to him… and he…”

“Charles…”

 

Erik reached out and wrapped his arms around Charles.

He could feel Jean’s gaze, her eyes boring into him, almost daring him to do something wrong… But she had brought him here, had known that he could be the one to fix whatever was keeping the Professor trapped inside his own mind.

 

“Erik-”

“You are stronger than him, braver than him, you’re the best person I know… You always see the good in people… You still see it in me even when I know it’s not there anymore”

“I let him inside my head and he broke me, Erik”

“You are not broken, Charles… But even if you were, that wouldn’t change how I feel about you”

“You left me on this very beach”

“Is that why we’re here now? You think I’m going to leave you again?”

“You always leave me, Erik… You always leave!”

 

“What if I promise to stay?”

“Don’t…” Charles broke away from the embrace and stared at him with fresh tears in his eyes. “Don’t make promises that you can’t keep”

“You’re a telepath, Charles, you can make me stay”

“I could never force you to do anything you didn’t want to do”

“I’m here now” Erik insisted. “He’s gone but we’re still here, still together”

 

Erik reached up and ran his fingers through Charles’ hair. He wondered if the telepath knew he no longer had such long, soft locks. He leaned closer and rested his forehead upon that of his friend.

 

“I love you, Charles” he whispered. “I always have and I always will”

“Your wife, your daughter” Charles replied.

“Will always be a part of me and I will always love them, will always mourn them… And they too will hold a special place in my heart”

 

Charles opened his mouth to speak again but was immediately cut off by a deep, lingering kiss from Erik. Time appeared to freeze as the world slipped away and he lost himself entirely to the feeling of being in Erik’s arms again after all these years. Breaking the kiss was almost impossible but when Charles looked up to meet Erik’s gaze, he could barely see him though his own tears.

 

“I still love you, Erik” Charles whispered.

“I don’t know how much time we’ll have”

“But I’ll take it all the same”

 

As Erik leaned in to claim Charles’ lips once more, the world around him shifted and he found himself back in a destroyed building in the middle of Egypt. All eyes in the room were either on him, Charles or Jean and he wondered if any of them had heard what he’d said to Charles. Erik turned and saw Jean blinking back a tear.

 

Charles’ eyes were still closed when Moira reached for his hand. She gently shook him.

 

“Charles?” she asked. “Do you know where you are?”

“I’m on a beach in Cuba” he opened his eyes and looked up at her before his eyes shifted to Erik. “With you”


End file.
